1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to equipment apparatuses; extendable/retractable supports for apparatus for connecting and disconnecting tubular members (e.g. casing, tubing, pipe, or drill pipe); and, in certain particular aspects, to iron roughnecks and methods of moving them on a drilling rig.
2. Description of Related Art
“Iron roughnecks,” combine a torque wrench and a spinning wrench to connect and disconnect tubulars, e.g. drilling components, e.g. drill pipe, in running a string of tubulars into or out of a well. Prior art tong systems and iron roughnecks are shown. e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,023,449; 4,348,920; 4,765,401; 6,318,214; 6,776,070; 7,249,639; and 7,313,986—all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Various prior art iron roughnecks have a spinning wrench and a torque wrench mounted together on a support structure or carriage. Certain iron roughnecks are mounted on an extendable and retractable support structure for movement to and from a wellbore center without interfering with or blocking performance of other operations relative to the well and rotating or driving apparatuses.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,639, co-owned with the present invention, discloses an apparatus for moving an Iron Roughneck into position to allow making-up or breaking-out of threaded joints in a drill string. The apparatus may also be used to move other drilling equipment into position on the centerline of the well or at mouseholes. A self-balanced, dual synchronized parallelogram arm is utilized to accomplish the movement of the devices. Hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders are used for extension and retraction of the arm rather than to support the tool. The arm may hold the tool in any position without cylinder assistance. The linkage in the synchronized parallelogram may be accomplished by gears, links, slots, or rollers. In certain aspects, an apparatus is disclosed for moving drilling equipment having: a column attached to a drill floor; a column guide attached to the column; at least one parallelogram arm attached to the column guide at a first connection point, the at least one parallelogram arm comprising a tension link, a lower support arm, an upper support arm, a compression link, and a load transfer joint; a drilling apparatus attached to the parallelogram arm at a second connection point; and a cylinder attached to the column guide for raising and/or lowering the column guide along the column.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,313,986, co-owned with the present invention, discloses a system with a torque wrench and a spinning wrench on a carriage which is movably connected for up/down vertical movement to a column and which can also translate horizontally on a rig floor for movement toward and away from a drill pipe of a drill string in a well. Support arms are pivotably connected at one end to a base of the carriage and at their other ends to a support. Optionally, only one support arm is used or two arms in parallel are used. A connector is removably emplaceable in a socket to mount the system on a rig. In one particular aspect the dual arms move the spinner/wrench combination outwardly 24″ from the column which results in a 6.5″ rise vertically. The wrenches are movable by a power mechanism toward and away from the column 14 by moving the support arms. The spinning wrench is movable up and down on the carriage toward and away from the torque wrench. A control console for the communicates by wire or wirelessly with the system components and can be located remotely.